On Tuesday, the council approved a contract with National Demographics Corp. in Claremont to assist the city in addressing possible violations of the California Voting Rights Act of 2001 and change to a district-based election system.

The council voted prior to closed session to add the agreement to the agenda as a late-breaking item, Mayor Paul Foster said Tuesday night.

The council’s consideration of the agreement was moved up in response to a letter sent Friday by the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, or MALDEF, threatening to sue the city if it did not change to a district-based election system.

MALDEF asked the city to respond by Aug. 12. The council’s meeting Tuesday was the last scheduled until September.

In May, the City Council directed city staff to seek a consultant to review the city’s risk under the CVRA and possible change to a district-based system. At that time, the city was not being threatened with litigation.

In June, the city received one bid for the job and decided to rebid the project, according to the city staff report. City staff expected to make a recommendation to the City Council after August, but the letter from MALDEF prompted earlier action.

National Demographics Corp. will conduct a demographic analysis of voting patterns of past elections, provide a list of recommendations regarding the city’s compliance of the act and provide guidance on potential districts using Census data and GIS spatial analysis, according to the staff report.

The firm also will assist in public information forums and discussions with the public.

Under a district voting system, each council member must live within the district he or she serves and can be elected only by voters of that district.

The city is looking to make the change by the November 2018 election.

Matthew Barragan, attorney with MALDEF, said Wednesday the organization has not yet heard from the city. While MALDEF is encouraged the council planned to hire a consultant, Barragan said, the organization hopes the city will enact the change in a more formal process to allow for resident participation.

“The school district recently made a change, so we’re going to be participating in the map-drawing process,” Barragan said. “We’re also looking forward to seeing the city make that same change.”

MALDEF was contacted by Latino voters in Redlands concerned about the city’s at-large system causing Latino vote dilution and preventing them from electing candidates of their choice, according to MALDEF’s letter. After reviewing the city’s demographic and electoral information, MALDEF determined the city to be in violation of the act and said it must convert to a district-based system.

The CVRA attempts to enhance the ability of members of race, color or language minority groups to elect candidates of their choice by challenging a government agency’s at-large election system. If the groups can prove “racially polarized” voting is occurring in the at-large system, which is illegal under the CVRA, they can pressure the city or school district to change to a district-based system.

Racially polarized voting occurs when there is a difference in the choice of candidates of a minority group versus the majority, according to the California act.

Many California cities have been forced to change to a district-based system after being sued for violating the act. The city of Highland, for example, lost a lawsuit and is changing to a district system in November.